How To Explain Love
by HPBritishFanGirl4041
Summary: As Ginny enters into her sixth year, she must be brave, and without Harry by her side, she feels lost. As Ginny is thrown into a world she never knew, one filled with dangers and magic she could never imagine, she must find something good in a world riddled with evil. This is the story of how Ginny finds friendship and even love, in the darkest of all places.
1. The Train

Ginny sat alone in her compartment aboard the Hogwarts Express.

However, she was not sad and lonely, she was angry.

Usually she sat with Ron, Hermione, and ... Harry.

She wasn't alone because she had other friends, in fact she had plenty. Hannah, Casey, Dean, all of them were her friends. They were probably looking for her right now.

They were all the perfect friends. Attractive, intelligent, and funny. They were anybody's first choice.

Still, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were so much more. They saved the world time after time, and yet still had fun. They were adventurous, using magic in extraordinary ways. They were always on a quest to save the world.

That was precisely one of the reasons why she _hated_ them.

They always trekked about without her, and never clued her in on secrets. As if she couldn't handle the pressure, like she was a kid.

Ginny shook her head with annoyance.

Ginny looked at the empty seats around her and was reminded of Harry. Instead of feeling love, she felt a surge of hate. She had loved him with all her heart, been completely brought to her knees by the boy with the scar.

However, she had never quite been good enough for _him._

He didn't tell her all his secrets which she so desperately wanted to know. He didn't trust her at all.

It was like she was more of a formality more than anything else. A tiny speck of dust in the world of Potter.

How many hours had she spent counting the colours in his eyes, or smiled at his miss shaped hair, marveled at his magic? She couldn't count that high.

As if he had even given her a second look.

Ginny shook her head once again.

Then he broke up with her right before going on a suicide mission to save a world that he could not save. He was a hopeless case. He was crazy. Although, maybe it was good they had broken up. He would have broken her heart eventually, better to get it out of the way.

Ginny huffed in frustration.

For the first time in all the years she had known Harry, she wished she had never fallen in love with him in the first place.

'Hello' came a milky voice.

She had a mess of blonde hair in a curly state, piercing blue eyes and rosy cheeks. She wore her wizard robes with her Ravenclaw badge proudly pinned to her chest.

Luna.

'Hello Luna' Ginny responded, shaking away her angry thoughts.

'How was your summer?' Luna asked innocently.

Ginny hesitated.

'Good' Ginny lied, 'How was yours?'

'Fantastic! Ever been gnome hunting?'

'Err- no.'

'It's pleasant fun, very easy work. You should try it.'

Normally she would have made fun of Luna with Harry, hurting Luna's feelings, but she didn't have to play by the rules anymore.

'Maybe I'll try it sometime.'

'Splendid!'

A few minutes of silence iced over, but it was a comfortable silence.

'It won't ever be the same' Luna says abruptly, breaking the quiet.

'What do you mean, Luna?' Ginny asked with confusion.

'With Professor Dumbledore and Harry gone, things will be so different.'

Ginny hadn't considered this.

Who was headmaster now that Dumbledore had ... passed? How had things changed? Would things be worse or ... better?

There was no way to tell how things would turn out this year.

'I never thought about it, Luna.'

Luna sat down and relaxed even though this whole conversation had been uncomfortable.

Luna always seemed relaxed in whatever surroundings she found herself. Ginny sometimes wished she were more like Luna.

'Hi guys' came a voice that was no doubt Neville, who was leaning against the compartment door.

Neville looked ... different.

His usual untidy hair was combed back. His shoulders were broader, all his chubbiness was gone, and he had grown at least six inches.

Neville looked more like a man now than a boy.

'Hey Neville.'

'Wow! You've grown so much! You're tall!' Luna exclaimed with a smile that showed all her teeth.

Neville blushed furiously, turning redder than Ginny's hair.

'Not really...' Neville said unsure.

'She's right, you're much taller than me!' Ginny said kindly.

Neville just shrugged, he sat down across from Luna and Ginny.

'So how was your summer Neville?' Ginny asked.

'Oh you know ... the same. Gram shouting, going on about whether Hogwarts is even safe anymore' Neville replied quietly.

'_Safe_?' Ginny said skeptically.

'Well loads of people are not coming back to school again this year, most families have gone into hiding with everything that has been going on. I think it's just absurd of course, Hogwarts has always been safe!' Neville said going on a rant.

Ginny shook her head. It was absurd. Hogwarts is the safest place in the wizard world!

Things grew quiet again.

'Harry isn't here, is he?' Neville asks timidly.

'No' Ginny paused, 'He's off...'

'Yeah. He's saving the world again, isn't he?' Neville says.

Ginny forced a smile.

Harry was _always_ saving the world, and that was part of the problem.

'He always is' Ginny said.


	2. Anouncements

As the train pulled into the station, the three hopped off and looked around at the icy platform.

It seemed different from the previous years, cold and dark almost. It was like all the light from the platform had disappeared, leaving the students with nothing but their wands to light the way.

Ginny, Luna and Neville followed the trail that led to the carriages , using lumos to light the way. The three climbed into a carriage and it started to roll up the small hill in the direction of the castle.

After a few minutes of traveling the trees started to thin and the magnificent castle came into view. Ginny's heart gave a leap. The rest of summer since the wedding, all Ginny had wanted to do was go back to school and distract herself. She needed a distraction lately, with everything that had happened.

Luna and Neville were excited too, and the three of them chatted about as they got out of the carriages and climbed to the castle, laughing as they did so. It was as if they were eleven all over again and they were entering Hogwarts for the first time.

As they entered the great doors that marked the front of the castle, instantly their laughter was cut short. They knew something was wrong.

Firstly, the castle held no form of decoration such as house flags and spirited colours. Well it did have one colour, which deemed to fill the halls, even if it was only a faint trace, a dark emerald green. It seemed to drench everything in its sinister colour.

In addition, all the portraits had been either emptied or taken down, and this very minute Filch, the school caretaker, was dumping out all the people from the portraits, leaving an empty blackness to fill the frames.

It was like all the happiness, joy, and memories had been sucked out, as if one great herd of dememtors had taken everything Ginny, Luna, and Neville had cherished about the old school they had come to love so much.

Despite being confused by the schools new appearance, Ginny , Luna, and Neville made their way to the great hall.

The great hall had some colours, thankfully, but just one flag per table only to mark the houses. Not to mention the colours were dreary and the flags tarnished and stained.

The Slytherins seemed to approve of the new decor, as they happily sat down at their table eagerly awaiting the opening speech.

Luna left Ginny and Neville to sit at her table and the two went to the Gryffindor table.

Slowly student by student the tables were filled. The school had been cut in half over the summer, as there were barely any students. Almost the whole school was made up of older students , such as sixth and seventh years, Ginny supposed that most families didn't want to send their younger ones to school again, unarmed.

Then several minutes later all the staff showed up, except one. The headmaster. Ginny was anxious to see who it was. At first she thought it might be Professor McGonagall, but she had already taken her seat at the staff table.

Then a dark man, wearing his usual black robes entered and stood in front of the school, confident and with authority.

When Ginny recognized who it was her jaw dropped and many students looked as if they were faint.

'Hello students, welcome to another year, as you may have guessed, things will be very different.' He paused, ' I am the new head master now, and I have the authority to make these changes, and they will begin immediately' Snape said, his lip curling in a devilish way.

Ginny felt sick, there she had been begging to come back to school and now, she wanted to hide.

'Before we begin we have to have our sorting ceremony. Professor McGonagall?' He said with distaste.

Professor McGonagall stood up, and walked to the front.

'I will be back shortly with the new students' Professor McGonagall said as she walked down the rows of tables to the door.

After a few minutes, the door opened and a group of children walked in, but they weren't the group of smiling happy kids they usually saw. They were all afraid and grimacing at the looks of the great hall. They walked orderly in straight lines, scared probably. They were disappointed, Ginny could tell, by the lack of wonder and magic they had expected from the castle.

They were led to the front of the hall by Professor McGonagall, and then the Professor turned to face them.

'You will now be sorted into your houses. When I call your name, you come up, sit on the stool and then I place the hat on your head. You will then be sorted. ' She said picking up a scroll of names.

' Scarlet Thomas' Professor McGonagall read clearly, picking up the hat.

The girl pushed past the crowd gently and then took her seat on the stool. Professor McGonagall then placed the hat on her head.

'Ah ... intelligence, passion, loyalty, cunning wits ... you are quite a hard one to place. So many qualities that fit so many houses. If I have to choose one though, I'll go with ... GRIFFINDOR!' The hat roared and she let a smile slip on her face and she walked quickly to Ginny's table.

No one clapped.

' Devon Clark' the Professor read.

The boy pushed through the crowd with confidence and sat proudly on the stool.

'Cunning, fast on your feet, and a thirst for knowledge. No doubt where to put you ... SLYTHERIN! ' The old witch's hat roared, and the boy stood up.

He didn't bother hiding his emotions, he was definitely smug, and happy with his house.

It went on like this until everyone was sorted.

Then Snape came up once again.

'Now that _that_ is finished with, I have a few announcements.' he said .

'Firstly, the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher will be taken up by Professor Amycus Carrow. He will also be in charge of punishment along with Professor Alecto Carrow who will be taking the post of muggle studies. They will be my deputy headmaster and headmistress. You will treat them with respect and recognize that they are here to stay. If you do not, there will be certain... punishments. ' Snape said with a smirk.

'I can't believe this' Neville whispered to Ginny.

'Me neither, it just seems too wrong. How could this have happened? What about Professor McGonagall? I thought she was the deputy headmistress, doesn't she get to lead the school?' Ginny whispered back, confused.

'I know, it seems odd. I think Snape had something to do with this.' Neville says in hushed voices.

'Of course he did, he's Snape' Ginny said quietly.

'Also, there will be no extracurricular activities taking place after classes except those of my approval. That includes quidditch, each team will need to be cleared by my deputies or myself. ' Snape said .

Ginny was outraged. How could they even dare to take away quidditch, it was Ginny's most favourite thing!

'That's unbelievable! How could they do this?' Ginny said a little louder than intended, and a few faces turned to look at them.

'I know, it's crazy. Just because Dumbledore is ... gone, doesn't mean he can change whatever he wants! Anyways your team will get permission, it has to. 'Neville said worried.

'I'm not so sure. Snape isn't exactly a fan of the Gryffindor house ... or any other house for that matter. He's all about Slytherin. I mean look at them, I bet the Slytherins are just eating this up. With Snape as headmaster, they practically rule the school and everyone now.' Ginny says angrily.

'It's unfair, I agree. We have to do something, but getting angry won't solve our problem. We have to approach this carefully. Promise me you won't freak out and do something you'll regret, OK?' Neville says timidly.

'Fine, but one word from the Slytherin house and I'll put them in their place' Ginny says forcefully.

'Well, get ready because the cruelty starts here. They're not going to play nice' Neville says with regret.

'I know. ' Ginny replies with a sigh.

'Thirdly, there will be a list of rules and regulations that come with my new position. You will obey these rules. Check your common rooms tomorrow for these ' Snape said darkly. 'That is all, you may eat.'

Snape snapped his fingers and left promptly, his black capes billowing behind him as he fled the hall.

Mounds of feast appear and everyone digs in, but Ginny has lost her appetite. She just can't believe this is what her beloved school has become.

Snape is almost as bad as Umbridge. That frog - like woman that pounced on people and fed off their sadness like some twisted creature. Snape was a close second appointing two death - eaters to be in charge of punishment.

Before, Ginny thought Snape was just unpleasant and sour, however now she knew he was truly sinister and evil.

Ginny felt sick with the thought of what punishments she would endure, and the hardships the whole school would face.

She looked around at the worried faces of students, and then at Luna, who was gazing in her direction, with a shocked and frightened face. Ginny then turned to Neville who was pushing his food around his plate, not daring to look up.

'Neville... what do think is going to happen?' Ginny asks, worried.

'I don't know, but I don't think it's going to be good though' Neville answers.


End file.
